Conveyor Health Inspection Method

This disclosure is in the field of inspection methods and systems for manufacturing conveyor systems.

Conveyor systems for manufacturing lines may include rails on which trolleys are conveyed. Such trolleys may tow or otherwise move carriers for products being manufactured, such as automobiles, automobile bodies, or automobile chassis.

The rails of conveyor systems may be under significant stress and may therefore wear or otherwise develop faults over time. In order to maintain high uptime in the operation of a manufacturing line, a convenient and reliable method for diagnosing faults in rails of the conveyor will be advantageous. Such a method and system will allow identification and location of faults so that appropriate maintenance may be performed.

A method for inspecting a rail of a conveyor system includes illuminating the rail with a light beam in the form of a line of light directed obliquely to a surface of the rail. The method further includes translating the light beam along the rail in a direction of translation, the direction of translation generally perpendicular to the line of light and sensing reflection of the light beam from the surface as the light beam is translated. The method additionally includes using the reflection to create a three-dimensional topography of the surface, applying thresholds to the three-dimensional topography to detect features of potential interest in the topography, and determining physical characteristics of the features of potential interest. In addition, the method includes using the physical characteristics to identify faults in the rail associated with the features of potential interest and mapping locations of the faults.

In the inspection method, the faults may include wear of the rail. The faults may also include debris on the rail. Mapping locations of the faults may include using a position encoder that measures position of the light beam as the light beam translates along the rail. The light beam may provide continuous illumination along the line of light. The method may further include translating the light beam multiple times relative to the rail to confirm the identified faults. The method may further include translating the light beam a plurality of times relative to the rail to detect faults that were missed during an earlier translation of the light beam. The rail may include an I-beam, or the rail may include two opposing C-channels.

Further, in the inspection method, using the physical characteristics to identify faults in the rail may include applying the physical characteristics to a fault tree to identify the faults. The physical characteristics may include surface area. The physical characteristics may include depth. The physical characteristics may include R-Value.

A second method for inspecting a rail of a conveyor system includes illuminating an inner periphery of the rail with a light beam in the form of a line of light. The method further includes translating the light beam along the rail in a direction of translation, the direction of translation generally perpendicular to the light beam and using the light beam to identify one or more faults in the rail. The rail may include two opposing C-channels. The one or more faults may include deformation in the shape of the rail, sagging of the rail, or imperfections in an internal surface of the rail.

An additional method for inspecting a rail of a conveyor system includes illuminating the rail with a light beam in the form of a line of light directed obliquely to a surface of the rail and extending in a first direction and translating the light beam along the rail in a direction of translation, the direction of translation generally perpendicular to the first direction. The method additionally includes sensing reflection of the light beam from the surface as the light beam is translated. Further, the method includes using the reflection to construct a three-dimensional topography of the surface, where the three dimensional topography of the surface is constructed using the following: capturing video of the reflected light beam as the light beam translates along the rail, the video comprising successive frames; for each of the frames, determining a highest-intensity pixel for each of a plurality of columns that extend parallel to the direction of translation; saving a y[i,x] location for each highest-intensity pixel, where y is the direction of translation, x is the first direction and i is a number of a respective one of the successive frames; and concatenating the [i,x] locations to construct the three-dimensional topography.

The method further includes applying thresholds to the three-dimensional topography to detect features of interest in the topography, determining physical characteristics of the features of interest, using the physical characteristics to identify faults in the rail associated with the features of interest, and mapping locations of the faults.

The above summary does not represent every embodiment or every aspect of this disclosure. The above-noted features and advantages of the present disclosure, as well as other possible features and advantages, will be readily apparent from the following detailed description of the embodiments and best modes for carrying out the disclosure when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and appended claims. Moreover, this disclosure expressly includes combinations and sub-combinations of the elements and features presented above and below.

1 FIG. 100 100 102 104 102 104 Refer first to. There is illustrated a portion of a conveyor systemfor a manufacturing production line. Conveyor systemmay include a first railand a second rail. First railmay be an I-beam. Second railmay be two C-channels disposed opposite one another with their open faces opposing each other.

106 102 104 106 108 106 106 106 106 110 104 106 112 102 114 106 104 106 110 1 FIG. 1 FIG. Trolleyis disposed to move along first railand second rail. Trolleymay pull a tow barthat is connected to a carrier that is towed by trolley. The carrier towed by trolleymay be, for instance, a carrier carrying a motor vehicle body along the manufacturing production line. The carrier may be disposed below trolley. Trolleymay have two wheelsthat ride along second rail. Trolleymay also have two additional wheelsthat ride along first rail. A chain, motivated by a prime mover (not shown) may tow trolleyalong the production line. (Note that the C-channel of second railin the foreground ofis partially cut away into create a window through the wall of the C-channel for illustration purposes, including to more fully illustrate trolleyand wheels.)

102 104 102 104 First railand second railmay become worn, may crack or fracture, may experience cracked or broken welds, may sag, or may otherwise degrade or deform over time. It may be advantageous to identify the existence of degradation, the nature of the degradation, and the location of the degradation in order to perform appropriate maintenance on first railand second rail.

2 FIG. 150 150 152 152 150 106 152 150 152 Refer now to. There, an inspection deviceis illustrated. Inspection devicemay translate along a railfor the purpose of inspecting surface(s) of rail. Inspection devicemay be installed on a trolley, such as trolley, or inspection device may be towed by a trolley. It should be understood that because railmay be stationary, inspection devicemay translate relative to rail.

150 154 154 152 150 156 152 154 154 154 154 154 154 152 2 FIG. Inspection devicemay comprise a light source. Light sourcemay provide a beam or line of light that illuminates a surface of railthat is being inspected. In the exemplary configuration shown in, inspection devicemay inspect a flange, which in this example is horizontally disposed, of rail. Light sourcemay be directed at an oblique angle (that is, not a right angle) to the surface being inspected. Light sourcemay project light in a straight line. The projection may be continuous, rather than scanning across the surface being illuminated. Light sourcemay be a light-emitting diode (“LED”), incandescent lamp, laser, or other continuous source to provide a crisp straight line not affected by the raster scan of a camera. The laser may be nonsweeping. Light sourcemay provide white light or may be other colors, or it may be outside the visible spectrum, such as infrared or ultraviolet. Light sourcemay be of high-energy frequencies that may be detectable even if diffused through translucent deposits on the scanned surface. Light sourcemay provide a solid, nonscanning, narrow line of light that may be cast on the floor, walls, top, and/or flanges of the rails of the conveyor system, such as rail.

150 158 158 152 158 158 154 154 158 Inspection devicemay also include a light detector. Light detectoris positioned to detect reflection of the light beam from the surface of railthat is being inspected. Light detectormay be a camera. Light detectorneed not be for visible light. As discussed above, the projection of light from light sourcemay be continuous (providing continuous illumination along the line of light), rather than scanning across the surface being illuminated; this may help prevent the light synchronizing with the camera raster and creating false dead zones in detection of the projected light line. The oblique positioning of the light sourceand light detectormay be such that they are effective even if they are inspecting a highly polished surface that acts as a mirror.

150 160 152 150 152 160 154 158 150 152 160 Inspection devicemay include encoder wheelthat is in contact with railand that rotates as inspection devicetranslates along rail. A suitable position encoder may track the rotation of wheelin order to allow sensing of the position of light sourceand detectoras inspection devicetranslates along rail. Encoder wheelmay also be on a measured slide or an encoded elbowed arm so that encoder wheel may also provide a caliper function. This accommodates a case where the flange of a rail wears down and where the wear spans the entire surface; the surface may appear flat and healthy when in fact is has worn down.

150 152 152 152 Inspection devicemay obviate the need for a human inspector to gain visual access to railfor the purpose of inspecting rail. Railmay run in areas of a factory where ready access by a human inspector may be difficult.

2 FIG. 2 FIG. 150 154 156 152 156 154 157 152 In, inspection deviceis illustrated with light sourcedisposed to illuminate flangeof rail, flangebeing horizontally disposed. Light source, or additional light sources, may also illuminate the body of the rail (that is, the vertical portionof railas disposed in). The diagnosis described herein may be done on any region of a conveyor rail, including flanges and bodies of beams and channels that may comprise the rail.

3 FIG. 154 158 154 170 159 152 158 170 159 152 172 170 158 Refer now additionally to. Illustrated there are light sourceand light detector. Light sourcemay emit light beam, which reflects from surfaceof railand the reflection detected by light detector. As described above, light beammay be trained on surfaceof railat an oblique angle θ. Oblique angle θ may be 45 degrees. Light beamrepresents the reflection of light beamand is detected by detector.

170 170 The deflection of the reflection of light beammay cause projection of the straight line of light beamto create curves, jumps, or even disappear depending upon the topography of the rail being inspected.

100 200 154 158 202 200 4 FIG. A system for inspecting conveyor systemis illustrated with reference to. There, the scanning device, which may be considered to be, collectively, light sourceand detectorand associated scanner management electronics, is illustrated. Post-processing servermay process the inspection signals gathered by scanning device.

202 202 202 Post-processing servermay be a microprocessor-based controller that should be understood to include appropriate microcomputer resources (e.g., microcontroller, memory, software, inputs, outputs, displays, peripherals, and the like) to perform the functions ascribed to electronic controller post-processing serverherein. The functions of post-processing servermay also be shared by one or more additional electronic controllers that may be networked together and therefore able to share data and computing responsibility.

202 Post-processing servermay be responsive to and may execute instructions, each of which may comprise one or more software commands. Each instruction may further comprise one or more additional instructions.

202 203 203 Post-processing servermay include and/or may be in communication with a review console. Review consolemay include a human-machine interface (displays, user controls) that allows an operator to control, query, and receive output data (including diagnosis of the nature and location of faults in the conveyor rail system). The operator may then use the output data to arrange for any required repairs/maintenance of the rails.

204 204 160 150 154 158 160 150 202 The signal from the scanner is provided to scanner reader. Scanner readermay synchronize its data acquisition with encoder wheel, which allows tracking of the position of inspection device, including light sourceand detector. The data from encoder wheel, which may travel along with inspection device, may be further passed to other blocks within post-processing server.

208 150 159 152 250 250 150 252 250 253 159 250 152 254 260 5 FIG. 5 FIG. 5 FIG. 5 FIG. At block, three-dimensional translation of the data gathered by inspection devicemay be performed. In short, light deflections from the light beam may be translated to create the three-dimensional topography of the surface being inspected. Here, refer additionally to. There, the surfaceof railis illustrated, illuminated by light beam. Light beammay translate, along with inspection device, in the direction of arrow. As shown in, light beammay be in a region of a three-dimensional feature, which may be a gouge, rut or other fault or feature, worn into surface. The video captured of light beamtravelling along railmay be processed frame-by-frame. For each frame numbered, say, “i”, the highest intensity pixel for each columnillustrated inis located and the y-value for the pixel is saved (y[i,x]) (that is, y as a function of both frame number and column number). If there is a tie for the highest intensity, y[i,x] may be defined as the average y-value for all member pixels of the tie. The collected y[i,x] represents the single scanned line, say, line, from the frame and is normalized to a deflection delta minimum and/or maximum. The series of y[i,x] location extractions from each frame are concatenated together, forming the representation of the three-dimensional topography of the scanned surface shown in the rightmost image of.

5 FIG. 5 FIG. 250 Note inthat coordinates “x” and “y” are called out. In this disclosure, “y” will refer to a direction in which the light beam (here, light beam) translates (that is, moves) along the rail. “x” will refer to a direction transverse to “y” and located along the surface being inspected. Thus, in, where a horizontal surface is being inspected, “x” will be horizontal. Where, however, a vertical surface, such as a web or body of an I-beam is being inspected, “x” may be vertical and, again, transverse to the direction in which the light beam translates.

In the scanning described in the previous paragraph, there may be a gap in the surface where the projected light is completely hidden from the view of the camera. (Consider an analogue where a person is standing on an edge of a cliff and there is a projection on a cliff face in front of and below the person. The person would not see it. That may be considered a “gap”.) If the highest intensity pixel discussed in the previous paragraph is below a threshold, that means that the projected line is not visible in that frame. Hence, there is a “gap” that the projected line has fallen into and from which it may not be detected. In that case, the y[i,x] may be set to −1 or some other value to designate that gap.

210 270 272 274 276 4 FIG. In the generation of the representation of the three-dimensional topography of the surface being inspected, the y[i,x] collection may be filtered by user-set translation thresholds (block,). The thresholds may be a set of thresholds used to identify whether a particular measurement is significant enough to represent a feature or a portion of a feature in the surface being inspected. The feature may be a feature of potential interest in identifying and diagnosing faults in the rail. Application of the thresholds may create “islands” of qualified coordinate pairs that may represent features of potential interest such as feature, feature, feature, and feature. An “island” may also be a gap comprised of gap pixels.

212 270 272 274 276 214 214 214 4 FIG. At block(), features of potential interest, for instance feature, feature, feature, and featureare identified, with the aid of feature definitions. Feature definitionsmay be the physical characteristics that may be used to identify features of potential interest. For instance, feature definitionsmay include the following metrics of the features:

Metrics Region Number of Pixels Minimum Width Maximum Width Minimum Depth Maximum Depth Average Width Average Depth Depth Standard Deviation Slope R-Value Count of Gap Pixels Gap Percentage Intercept Density Percentage Others In the above table, Region means location of a feature; Minimum Width means the minimum width of the feature; Maximum Width means the maximum width of the feature; Minimum Depth means the minimum depth of the feature; Average Width means the average width of the feature; Average Depth means the average depth of the feature; Maximum Depth means the maximum depth of the feature; Number of Pixels means the size or surface area of the feature, which may be measured in pixels; Slope means the slope of the feature; Depth Standard Deviation means the standard deviation of the depth of the feature; Count of Gap Pixels is the number of pixels in a gap; R-Value is a measurement of the correlation among a group of coordinate points along a defined line; Intercept means the y-intercept of a linear equation; and Gap Percentage means the percentage of a region under inspection that is occupied by a gap; Density Percentage means the number of pixels in the feature, divided by the number of pixels contained in a rectangle defined by the minimum and maximum width and depth.

212 270 270 272 274 276 272 274 276 280 6 FIG. Feature identification (block) may then proceed with further reference to. There, each coordinate pair that is included in a particular feature (e.g., feature) may be separated into contiguous groups (e.g., groupA). The coordinate pairs belonging to other features, such as feature, feature, and feature, may additionally be separated into contiguous groups (that is, groupA, groupA, and groupA, respectively). As such, each feature may be quantified, evaluated, and characterized with a setof extensible metrics.

216 218 218 298 298 300 302 304 306 308 310 4 FIG. 7 FIG. 7 FIG. 7 FIG. Issue diagnosis may next be performed at block(), with the aid of diagnosis criteria. Diagnosis criteriamay take the form of a fault tree, as illustrated in. A feature may be analyzed with respect to fault treein order to identify and diagnose the issue that caused the feature. For instance, applying the fault tree of, a feature having a size above a predetermined threshold (say, 250 units) (block), an absolute R-Value above another predetermined threshold (say, 0.7) (block), a slope less than another predetermined threshold (say, 0.2) (block), a gap percentage less than another predetermined threshold (say, 10%) (block) and average width greater than another predetermined threshold (say, 170 units) (block) may be diagnosed as a lengthwise crack in the flange of the rail (blockin).

12 FIG. 12 FIG. 900 902 904 900 906 908 900 910 912 900 906 900 902 910 900 illustrates examples of some of the various faults that may be diagnosed in a rail.illustrates a rutin a wallof rail, a ditchin a flangeof rail, and a rutin a flangeof rail. A ditch, such as ditch, may run generally in an “x” direction, transverse to the length of rail. A rut, such as rutor, may run generally in a “y” direction, along the length of rail. Ruts and ditches may be similar in shape. A rut or ditch may be created by long-term contact wear. A rut may be created by a wheel or surface and therefore may run a relatively long distance.

910 914 914 A rut such as rutmay exhibit a crack, such as crack, due to overstressing caused by weakening created by the rut. A crack may be narrower than a rut. Whereas a rut may be a smooth, worn area that does not fully penetrate the wall or flange of the rail and therefore may have few or no gap pixels, a crack such as crackmay have gap pixels.

7 FIG. 300 312 More generally and with continued reference to, at blockthe size of the feature at issue may be evaluated. If the size is less than a threshold, the feature may be determined to be a speckle in the rail (block). The speckle may be defined as a feature consisting of a small collection of pixels, where the count of the pixels exceeds a tunable lower threshold but is less than a tunable upper threshold. While still a fault, the speckle may be considered predominately cosmetic. The speckle may represent a “nick” or small anomaly on the rail that is likely not of near-term actionable consequence; it may be noted by the maintenance team for future monitoring. The speckle may also be a metal shaving or other debris that may be indicative of wear, such as by scratching or scraping, of the surface of the rail being inspected. On the other hand, if the size of the feature at issue is greater than the tunable upper threshold, then the feature may be determined to be comprised of a collection of pixels larger than a speckle.

302 304 314 At block, the R-value of the collection of pixels may be evaluated. The R-value is a statistical tool used to determine the extent of correlation of multiple data points along a straight line defined by the equation y=mx+b, where b is the y-intercept and m is the slope. If the R-value is above a threshold, then the feature may be determined to be in the nature of a line (block). If the R-value is below the threshold, the feature may be determined to be in the nature of a gash (block) that does not substantially bear the form of a linear shape. A gash may be a non-linear area of damage to a surface that may be created by one or more impacts that should not normally occur. A gash may be larger than a speckle.

304 320 306 At block, the slope of the line may be evaluated. If the slope is below a threshold, then the line may be evaluated to be in the nature of a horizontal separation in the rail (block). If the slope is above the threshold, then the line may be evaluated to be in the nature of a vertical separation in the rail (block).

320 322 324 At block, the gap percentage of the horizontal separation may be evaluated. If the gap percentage is above a threshold, then the feature may be evaluated to be in the nature of a cross crack (block). If the gap percentage is below the threshold, then the feature may be evaluated to be in the nature of a cross ditch (block).

322 326 328 At block, the average X value of the cross crack may be evaluated. If the average X value is above a threshold, the cross crack may be evaluated to be a cross crack in a wall of the rail (block). If the average X value is below the threshold, then the cross crack may be evaluated to be cross crack in a flange of the rail (block).

324 330 332 At block, the average X value of the cross ditch may be evaluated. If the average X value is above a threshold, then the cross ditch may be evaluated to be a cross ditch in a wall of the rail (block). If the average X value is below the threshold, then the cross ditch may be evaluated to be a cross ditch in a flange of the rail (block).

306 308 336 At block, the gap percentage of the vertical separation may be evaluated. If the gap percentage is greater than a threshold, then the vertical separation may be evaluated to be a length crack (block). If the gap percentage is less than the threshold, then the vertical separation may be evaluated to be a length rut (block).

308 334 310 At block, the average X value of the length crack may be evaluated. If the average X value is greater than a threshold, then the length crack may be evaluated to be a wall length crack (block). If the average X value is less than the threshold, then the length crack may be evaluated to be a flange length crack (block).

336 338 340 At block, the average X value of the length rut may be evaluated. If the average X value is greater than a threshold, then the length rut may be evaluated to be a wall rut (block). If the average X value is less than the threshold, then the length rut may be evaluated to be a flange rut (block).

306 308 336 350 350 352 354 350 356 356 358 356 360 360 356 298 356 13 FIG. Illustrations of the features evaluated at block, block, and blockare shown with reference to. There, a portion of a railis illustrated. Railmay have a walland a flange. Railmay include a vertical separation. Vertical separationmay have an “x” widthhaving an average value (“AvgX”). Vertical separationmay also have a gap. A gap percentage may be defined as the number of pixels in gapdivided by the number of pixels in vertical separation. According to fault tree, then, vertical separationmay be identified as having a size (NumPixels) above a first threshold, an absolute value of slope being greater than a second threshold, and an R-Value greater than a third threshold.

314 316 318 At block, the gap percentage of the gash may be evaluated. If the gap percentage of the gash is greater than a threshold, then the gash may be evaluated to be a divot (block). If the gap percentage of the gap is less than the threshold, then the gash may be evaluated to be a hole (block).

298 298 298 The diagnostic steps and thresholds applied in fault treemay be based on experience learned in diagnosing similar or other conveyor systems. The thresholds used in the various decisions in fault treemay vary from system to system. The comparisons applied in fault treemay be “equal to”, “not equal to”, “less than”, “less than or equal to”, “greater than”, “greater than or equal to”, or “within a range”.

Further, the above diagnosis may include multiple features to measure gaps and tolerances between features to detect defects such as separations. And features may include turns, such that the left and right lines advance or recede relative to each other as well as the same relationships between flange and ceiling for turns up or down.

4 FIG. 220 160 150 Referring again to, mapping and location of the diagnosed faults (block) may be performed. Location of the faults may be aided by data from encoder wheelwhich allows the system to track the location of inspection deviceas it translates relative to the rails of the conveyor system.

8 FIG. 600 602 Refer also now to. There, the characteristicsof the various diagnoses may be fed to a recursive algorithm. Those characteristics may include Diagnosis Identifier Number, Region(s), Associated Feature(s), Location Key, Video Timestamp(s), Version of Diagnostic Tree Employed, Version of the Feature Criteria Employed, Related/Associated Regions, and the specific diagnosis.

602 602 604 606 602 602 602 602 By its recursive nature, recursive algorithmmay minimize missed features/issues/faults, find repeating patterns, minimize alternative paths, and stay within tolerance for inter-diagnosis encoder distance. Using a recursive algorithm such as recursive algorithmallows confirmation of the diagnosis and location of faultsin the rails of conveyor system. Such confirmation may be advantageous where diagnosis of a fault may be “borderline” and repeated detection of the fault may confirm its existence and location. In using recursive algorithm, the light beam used to inspect the rail may be translated a plurality of times. In that way, recursive algorithmmay detect faults that were missed during an earlier translation of the light beam. Recursive algorithmmay also confirm earlier diagnoses that may have been questionable. Recursive algorithmmay also identify progression of faults over time.

602 Create the Rail Path by Minimizing the “Stand-In” (missed) Features; Maximize the Feature Loop Matching (i.e., find repeating patterns) Minimize Alternate Paths Remain within Tolerance for Inter-Diagnosis Encoder Distance Recursive algorithmmay:

158 158 158 158 158 158 158 To enable matching a feature between runs, it may be desirable to normalize the 3D space. The I-beam and/or C-channel physical x- and y-axes are relatively fixed with the field of view of detector. A virtual “z” axis may be considered a function of the frames-per-second captured in the video and the velocity of travel of the detector. For example, if detectoris recording at 20 frames/second and traveling at 1 foot/second, there will be 20 frames captured for a 1 foot long feature in the “z” direction. If in the next pass detectoris traveling at 2 feet/second still capturing 20 frames/sec, that same feature would only have 10 frames in the video. Similarly, if the velocity was still 1 ft/sec but the video was captured at 10 frames/second, there would again only be 10 frames captured for that 1 foot long feature. Using the encoder wheel information and potentially other known position timestamps for detector, any variation in either video frames-per-second or velocity of the capture device through the system may be normalized out. A possible condition of concern will be if detectoris stationary for extended periods of time. Frames captured there would be of the same section of the rail and would appear artificially stretched without considering the zero Δz distance between frames. This normalization enables features to be “matched” between observations as detectoreither makes multiple passes relative to the rail through the system or between separate videos of the same system captured a different times (days apart, weeks apart, years apart). However, the more time between video sessions would likely result in more wear features and existing features growing in one or more of the metric attributes.

The control equipment for the inspection system may use fixed position indications. For example, it may be known that a vehicle carrier is scanned at certain points and is directed to go one location or the other. This indication may give definitive spot locations that are anchor points along the path for the algorithm to use. This may dramatically reduce the permutations needed for searching.

3 FIG. 9 FIG. 10 FIG. 3 FIG. 3 FIG. 154 170 172 158 159 152 159 700 158 702 Refer now to,, and. Recall the discussion above related to, where light sourcemay emit a beamwhose reflectionmay be detected by light detector.illustrates a situation where surfaceof railis unpolished. That is, surfacemay be painted. In that case, a graph such as graphof pixel intensity versus horizontal pixel position may illustrate a pronounced spike in intensity detected by light detector, as shown in curve.

9 FIG. 3 FIG. 159 152 710 170 710 158 170 154 159 152 711 710 714 158 750 752 702 702 752 152 However, insurfaceof railmay have a coatingof grease or other debris. Here, light beammay penetrate into coatingand have multiple levels of reflection seen by light detector. In that case, light beamfrom light sourcemay reflect from surfaceof railand surfaceof coating. Further, there may be a diffuse reflection from the translucent grease in-between that will likely become decreasingly intense the deeper it penetrates the translucent material. The result may be a more diffuse (i.e., less focused) reflectionthat is detected by light detector. The more diffuse signature of the reflection is illustrated in graph, where a wider and less peaked curve, relative to curve() is illustrated. The differences in signatures of curveand curveis an additional issue diagnosis tool that may be employed to identify the nature of an imperfection in rail.

10 FIG. 3 FIG. 3 FIG. 152 159 156 159 170 154 760 770 772 702 772 702 702 772 152 Further, in, rail′ may have a surface′ (or portion or region thereof) of a flange′ that is highly reflective. The high level of reflectivity may be due to a scratch, gouge, nick, rut, or similar imperfection in the paint of surface′. Such imperfection, because it may expose raw metal to light beamof light sourceand result in a reflected light beambeing sharper (that is, less diffuse or more focused) than in. The sharper signature of the reflection is illustrated in graph, where a curvethat is narrower and more peaked than curve() is illustrated. The height of the peak of curvemay also be greater than the height of the peak of curve. The differences in signatures of curveand curveis an additional issue diagnosis tool that may be employed to identify the nature of an imperfection in rail′.

702 752 772 3 FIG. 9 FIG. 10 FIG. 5 FIG. For instance, the different “signatures” of pixel intensity versus pixel position illustrated in curve(), curve(), and curve() may aid in issue diagnosis in that they will impact the three-dimensional translation illustrated and discussed with reference to.

11 FIG.A 11 FIG.B 5 FIG. 800 802 804 806 807 810 812 814 815 816 816 800 818 818 820 818 818 804 806 812 814 800 816 800 800 800 820 Refer now to. Here, a railmay include two opposing C-channels. A first C-channelmay include a flange, a flange, and a body. A second C-channelmay include a flange, a flange, and a body. The inspection device that is translated through the conveyor system may include a laser level. Laser levelmay illuminate the inner periphery of railwith a light beamA and light beamB. Now referring to, imagecreated by light beamA and light beamB will be able to sense sagging of flange, flange, flange, and/or flange, thus identifying an issue or fault in rail. More generally, laser levelmay detect deformation of railor an imperfection in the internal surface of rail, again, identifying a feature that may indicate an issue or fault with rail. The analysis of imagemay, at least in part, be consistent with the analysis discussed above with respect to.

14 FIG. 816 1000 816 1002 1000 1002 1004 1002 1006 1008 1006 1008 1002 1010 1006 1002 1008 illustrates faults that may be diagnosed such as with laser level. Here, a portion of a railis illustrated. The light beam from laser levelmay run along flange. The shape of the reflected light beam may help with detecting sagging or other deformations in rail. If flangewere not sagging, the line from the light beam would be expected to be horizontal, as shown by line. However, if flangewere sagging downward, linemay result. Further, then, the sagging may not progress linearly and may manifest as curved projection lines, such as curve, as the sag progresses. The difference (linear, such as lineor curved, such as curve) may be an indication of whether the metal failure is at the joint of flangeand wall(linear, such as line) or fatigue of flangeitself (curved, such as curve).

15 FIG. 15 FIG. 816 1100 816 1102 1104 1100 1100 1106 1100 1100 1108 further illustrates faults that may be diagnosed such as by laser level. Here, a portion of a railis illustrated. The light beam from laser levelmay run along bodyand flangeof rail. If railwere straight, linefrom the light beam may be expected to be transverse to the length of rail. However, if railwere curved (as opposed to sagging) due to deformation, linefrom the light beam may be angled, as shown in.

The present disclosure is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms. Representative examples of the disclosure are shown in the drawings and described herein in detail as non-limiting examples of the disclosed principles. To that end, elements and limitations described in the Abstract, Introduction, Summary, and Detailed Description sections, but not explicitly set forth in the claims, should not be incorporated into the claims, singly or collectively, by implication, inference, or otherwise.

For purposes of the present description, unless specifically disclaimed, use of the singular includes the plural and vice versa, the terms “and” and “or” shall be both conjunctive and disjunctive, “any” and “all” shall both mean “any and all”, and the words “including”, “containing”, “comprising”, “having”, and the like shall mean “including without limitation”. Moreover, words of approximation such as “about”, “almost”, “substantially”, “generally”, “approximately”, etc., may be used herein in the sense of “at, near, or nearly at”, or “within 0-5% of”, or “within acceptable manufacturing tolerances”, or logical combinations thereof.